World Of Twist

Talking of Earl Brutus - as we were, several times over - World of Twist also featured Gordon King and Nick Sanderson in their line-up, but were an entirely different proposition, being a stylistic crush of seventies disco, early nineties electronica and the Manchester scene of the time. They're only featured on this blog by the skin of their teeth since they narrowly missed the Top 40 a number of times, but are surely one of the best bands of the era not to have bothered Mark Goodier during the chart rundown.

Their sole album "Quality Street" is usually talked about with a certain amount of caution. "It could have been so good but the production's all wrong/ they're the wrong songs/ it doesn't capture their live sound" - so many fans seem to feel that as a piece of work it was unrepresentative and flawed. There may possibly be a grain of truth to all these accusations, but from beginning to end it still sounds to me like the electronic cousin to The Stone Roses' debut - both albums have the same sense of endless optimism, scaling euphoric peaks and dropping blissed out, defiant lyrics regularly. It may not be perfect, but when compared to more critically acclaimed albums of the era - The Inspiral Carpets' "Life", anyone? - it easily comes out on top most times. Too varied in its stylings to really be completely vogue-ish, it still stands up now. Alan McGee felt that World of Twist should have had the success Pulp later came along and took instead (which I slightly disagree with as a piece of hyperbole, but we'll let him have his say) and Oasis used to play "Sons of the Stage" at their early gigs.

Lead singer Tony Ogden decided he didn't want to be the band's vocalist anymore shortly after the album came out, and the band rapidly disintegrated shortly after. An explanation has never really been given for his decision, and it seems unlikely we'll get one now since he passed away in 2006. A World Of Twist reformation will therefore never happen in a hundred years of Madchester revival tours, purely because two of the key contributors (Sanderson and Ogden) are now no longer with us, but their album has become available online via iTunes and other MP3 sites with bonus tracks attached, and is a must-buy. No self-respecting fan of early nineties alternative music should be without a copy.

And whilst I'm dropping my opinions about, why don't we take a look at their single "The Storm" getting reviewed on Juke Box Jury?



Bernard Sumner not making a great deal of sense, there.

And here's an MP3 of "Lose My Way":

http://sharebee.com/2a1bdcfc